It is nearly time for the fishing houses to be off the lakes. By the looks of Fountain Lake most folks are way ahead of the game. Last week as I drove around the lake during the week I spotted a total of 3 houses that were still on the lake, now, there are many more sitting by the aerators in Edgewater Bay. I’d venture to guess that the rain that we had a couple of weeks ago was a contributing factor to the low number of houses. February 26th was the last day to fish for walleye and sauger.
The ”permanent” houses must be off the lakes in Southern Minnesota by March 6th, and by March 20th on the bodies of water north of Hwy. 200. After February 26th we are either in a state of limbo until the ice goes or, in some cases you can go trout fishing when it opens or head East to the Mississippi River. I have fished the Mississippi a few times over the years, (younger ones to be exact) but it was a fun time with a few fish being caught. You can still fish through the ice for panfish and perch as there is no closed season for them.
At my age, I intend to play the waiting game with “old Mother Nature” and wait to fish until the ice is out. While I am waiting for that next season I tend to do a little dreaming about open water fishing.
I have loved the outdoors for as long as I can remember. In my days as a kid I would always envision myself exploring a forest in Northern Minnesota or fishing from a boat on a remote lake. Re-living my own experiences as a youth or an adult can be almost as good as being there. In all reality, I have done both of those things, built a cabin in the woods and fished many remote lakes in the area.
There are times when I can close my eyes and envision myself sitting in a boat on a secluded bay on a lake in early morning. The fog slowly begins to lift as the sun begins peeking over the treetops signaling the beginning of a new day, and a new adventure. I don’t believe that there is an experience that gets my adrenaline pumping quicker than the sound of a fish breaking the silence of a peaceful, foggy morning while it breaks the surface of the in search of breakfast. As I sat in my boat, I could hear that sound many times over and I could only imagine what size and species by hearing the sound of a jumping fish as it broke the peaceful silence of the morning.
I love to think about making that first cast of the day and experience the feeling, like no other, as a fish hits my lure, claiming it as its own. I have lost a few lures over the years and some of the best advice I had gotten from an old fisherman was; “if you are afraid to lose a lure then you better not be fishing”. You probably won’t find that little piece of advice written anywhere but I can agree with it. With the price of lures, these days, I can see the reason that a person would hate to lose one. Muskie lures are, probably, the most expensive ones that you can buy these days. I have lost a few of those over the years and I can remember most of those times. One of those memories was when my wife and I were fishing, in the rain, in a little bay on Spider Lake. We had had a few follows but no takers. I cast my favorite buck tail, Big Slim, to an open pocket of water amongst the weeds. As my lure was ascending down to the water a musky exploded out of the water and inhaled my lure. I was still reeling, frantically trying to get the slack out of the line when the musky hit it. The tip of the fish’s tail must have been a foot or two out of the water. I knew right away that I had a battle on my hands but, eventually, the fish got off. On that same day I was reeling old Slim up to the boat when a musky came out from under the boat and nailed it. Unfortunately, there was only about 5-10 ft. of line out and when that fish hit, it snapped the line. I thought that 30 lb. braided line was strong enough for most fish but it snapped and there went my Big Slim lure swimming away with the musky. I don’t usually name my lures, but I had won this one in a musky contest at Rapids Tackle in Grand Rapids. The name of the lure was put on there by the manufacturer, and I have never been able to find another one like it. Rapids Tackle is gone and so is Big Slim but the memories are still there.
Until next time: Now that we’re into March it won’t be too long until the ice on area lakes will be opening up. I can’t wait for some early season crappie fishing.
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